New Jersey, oh deer me ....

[Rob DiStefano]

http://nj1015.com/nj-considering-these-ideas-to-reduce-deer-epidemic/

NJ considering these ideas to reduce ‘deer epidemic’

by MICHAEL SYMONS

Urged on by farmers, some lawmakers want to develop a package of bills in the new year aimed at reducing the number of deer in New Jersey.

They say the deer population has become a public safety problem the leads to thousands of car crashes, a public health problem that increases cases of Lyme disease and millions of dollars a year in losses for agriculture.

“There is no easy answer of how to take care of this issue,” said Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak, D-Cape May, chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. “It’s going to take more than just one answer.”

Ryck Suydam, president of the New Jersey Farm Bureau, said farmers are screaming for something to be done about deer, which cause over $10,000 a year in damage to more than one-third of farms surveyed, with 5 percent tallying the damage at over $50,000.

“The white-tail deer has become an epidemic,” Suydam said. “That’s a tough word, but if you drive a car in New Jersey, I think you’re going to agree with me.”

AAA data shows there are over 30,000 collisions a year between deer and cars reported in New Jersey, said Audubon Society vice president Kelly Mooij, who added that many other crashes probably go unreported. Deer are also wrecking the understory in forests, she said.

“We do need to work with our towns and counties to make sure that we are not providing refuges in certain areas for deer but rather managing our land, particularly land that is preserved with money from the state, to address this significant ecological concern,” Mooij said.

The Farm Bureau is now working on studies using drones to estimate the deer population in the state. It says about 15 to 20 deer per square mile is considered sustainable but that parts of New Jersey now have between 120 and 140 deer per square mile.

“It’s not just farms,” Suydam said. “It’s health, it’s homeowners, it’s automobiles. The only guys who want these deer are auto-body repair shops. God love them. They work hard.”

Deer have no natural predators left in New Jersey. And when they thrive on the state’s farms and lush suburbs, that drives us their fertility rates.

However, said New Jersey state director Brian Hackett of the Humane Society of the United States, a hunting-only plan would surely fail.

“Deer from the surrounding areas that were hunted may take advantage of any vacated niche,” Hackett said. “This combined with a high reproductive rate can lead to deer numbers bouncing back quite quickly.”

Hackett said it’s better to try to reduce deer conflicts, not deer numbers. He said the number of crashes involving deer can be reduced by increasing awareness and caution among drivers or by installing reflective devices that warn deer of oncoming cars. ... (Rob DiStefano - what total nonsense!!!!  Hackett is yet another clueless bureaucrat.)

Doris Lin, vice president of legal affairs for the League of Humane Voters of New Jersey, said the unspoken problem is that the state Division of Fish and Wildlife intentionally increases the deer population for hunters because its federal funding is tied to the number of permits it sells.

“We recommend ovariectomies. It’s a surgical sterilization of the female deer that removes the ovaries,” Lin said. “It has an advantage over tubal ligation because with the tubal ligation, the females don’t get pregnant but they still go into heat. And when they go into heat, they increase males to the area. And that will increase your local deer population.”

Assemblyman Parker Space, R-Sussex, seemed skeptical of that approach, in part because each 20-minute operation costs $1,000 to $1,200, though Lin said it can be lowered using volunteers.

Space said there’s an economic benefit to hunting – for diners, gas stations, sport shops, butchers and taxidermists.

“So it’s a win-win situation. You’re harvesting your deer, you’re controlling your population, you’re feeding the people and also you’re supporting all your local businesses,” Space said.

Suydam says hunting alone can’t solve the problem, though he suggested it would help if hunters were allowed to sell their venison.

“If a person knew they could go hunting, take a couple of does and know they could make a couple of hundred bucks because they could sell the venison, this problem would clean up much quicker,” Suydam said.

Short of venison sales, the state could support venison donation programs, said Mitchell Jones, a member of the State Board of Agriculture. Hunters Helping the Hungry received two state grants more than 15 years but relied on private donations since then.

“A lot of the hunters that I talk to, they don’t like to waste the deer, but they can only eat so many,” Jones said. “If they go out and get their two or three deer, fill their freezer, they’d be happy to hunt if there was something to do with the other deer.”

Since 1997, hunters in New Jersey have donated more than 228 tons of venison to food banks, providing more than 1.8 million meals, according to the Division of Fish and Wildlife. Last hunting season, 809 deer were donated.

Suydam also suggested that the state have fewer hunting zones. He said the state has more than 60 zones currently, each needing a separate permit. He said Maryland has two zones.

[Sam McMichael]

I know nothing about the deer population or other related hunting factors, but it sure seems that much of the input to the state has come from the insurance industry. Simply put, fewer deer equal fewer insurance claims.

[Rob DiStefano]

it's important to realize that new jersey, one of the hotbed regions of the american revolution that lead to both our independence and constitutional republic, is one of the most screwed up states in our good union.  it's chock fulla urban bureaucrats who wouldn't know a deer from a coyote, and we have both of those critters here in the garden state.  i can't wait to escape ....

[Bowguy67]

These guys are idiots. For starters there’s plenty of predators. Snow just fell. See how many tracks you see??
Look for deer tracks? Across the street from me is an unlimited zone. There are NO deer.
Now the state wants to reduce deer to dinosaur numbers. Yet in the same token they question how to keep hunter retention and recruitment.
Let me see???? How bout keep some animals alive?
Take a young child, show them nothing a few trips. Many aren’t going again.
Gonna say something else that ticks me off. The numbers they use to determine harvests n thus population figures for deer are phoned in numbers. Many zones require a doe harvest early season before your buck tag is valid.
Whole groups of people sleep in opening morning and call in phantom deer.
The state thinks wow there’s still lots. Horse poop. I live in the woods and it’s miles behind between me n the next road.
Last year I was sick. Had to learn to walk again and being on even grass was challenging. So I hate bait. Think it’s for guys that need help w their lack of hunt skills. Also hate cameras.
As I recovered last year in this overabundant deer Mecca I put out a food block, corn and mineral lick. I bought a camera and placed it on it. Not for hunting purposes but to see how many deer came plus checking it forced some needed walk practice.
I averaged one deer, one time a month from sept til Feb. in March I got 3 fairly regular than they flat out disappeared.
I hunt NY now when possible. It’s only 1/2 mile away. They value their game. Don’t allow bait. More my style of being in the outdoors.
I should add the error in thinking as well regarding other game. Few years ago there was a big article about saving NJ wild quail. Let em die, the greatest gamebird ever lived is a grouse. They too are dinosaurs and no one noticed them leave. They clearcut huge areas and now rabbits are way scarce. The only place w cover they stock Chinese chickens and when they run out lame chukar from what I’m told.
As sportsman we need to react as a group and individually.
The farm bureau has some money. What does hunting add to our economy? Lots, we need to be considered as well. Not by any means bashing farmers. The insurance companies maybe.
There are areas that actually have lots of game. The state does not actually know where those areas are or where they begin/end. They need to get into the field and away from a desk to determine that.

[YosemiteSam]

League of Humane Voters' idea is pretty clueless about how nature works.  It serves the ideology well but the ecology poorly.

Funny to hear about people calling in to fish & game to falsely report the taking of a doe so they can get their buck.  Out here, if does were legal, we'd see does taken 10/1 over bucks.

Want to see those deer numbers down?  Create a market for it.  People will organize on their own dime and see it done.

[Cory Mattson]

It’s simple - require the shotgun season hunters to shoot a doe first just like bowhunters. Numbers will align quickly. And that might hit the herd too hard so I’d go one year at a time and monitor closely.

You guys in NJ have it better than most - NJ has a rich traditional history- I can remember going to Robin Hood Archery in the 60s eyes wide open and full of wonder. The NJ DNR were way ahead of the rest of the country - and to an extent maybe they were forced to study hard and make decisions due to the “built out” human population. NJ still harvests over half the annual take with bows - not what I consider bows - but archery tackle that is not guns. And speaking of guns I love the NO rifles - muzzles and shotgun only - the key to thriving deer.

Different subject but I was involved late 70s as a NWTF member when we bought some turkeys from NY and VT - about 25 birds - this created the high quality turkey hunting available to all - this permit system is awesome- NJ lead the way in modern Turkey hunting etiquette.

But back to deer - we still have more opportunity - better hunting than the old days - and a real rut in NJ. This is not an accident guys.

Now I totally get the frustration- I can’t stand Democrat’s so I left in 1975 - but much of NJ still feels like home - Shad fishing in the Delaware- I killed 100 wild migrating Canada geese out of a canoe in the Delaware in the late 70s from the PA side in just four seasons- good as it gets. Tip: hunt Monday after Thanksgiving then hunt again Monday of NJ shotgun week- you’ll be covered up!

Give you a glimpse of what we deal with here in the south - GA every license sold includes TEN doe tags !?!?!?!?!.
SC rifle buck season opens in the middle of August and runs all the way to New Year’s Day- while bowhunters are allowed to start bowhunting in September and runs concurrent??? Is that a season??
AL GA NC SC there are guys who hunt deer with dogs!
I could go on but you get the idea.

Almost forgot- I’d fight that trying to legalize the sale of dead deer that would destroy everything quickly every meth junkie in Camden would be hazing my pine barrens at night. Not selling game is the original cornerstone of modern wildlife conservation

True though everyone wants out of NJ